News

With the explosion of technology over the last few years, companies are seeing great opportunities to increase the efficiency of their mobile workforce. Not only do mobile workers need to stay connected in order to be efficient out on the road and interact seamlessly with their customers, the companies they work for need to be able to locate and communicate with them in real-time and store this valuable field work data. The answer for many companies is fast becoming Field Service Management (FSM) technology which enables them to gather information to understand what’s happening out in the field and subsequently use this information to improve customer services, meet driver safety compliance, keep control of expenditure and improve operational efficiency.

At UPG we’ve recognised the need for FSM technology in Australia and we now have a number of solutions to tackle the challenges facing companies with mobile workers – both Trimble technology as well as solutions built in-house by our own Technology Solutions Group. The Trimble solutions that we provide have been ranked number one in fleet telematics in the world in the recent ABI Research Fleet Telematics report – click here for the full announcement.

Our Field Services Management (FSM) solutions use the process of telemetry to gather data and measurements out in the field and transmit this back to wherever you like for monitoring. This means you can do things like:

Increase worker productivity through monitoring things like arrival time, distance travelled, stops made and overtime

Improve quality of service by adjusting mobile worker schedules and reassigning work while they’re on the run

Improve driver safety to protect your public image and lower accidents and liability

The cloud-based portfolio enables us to offer industry-specific solutions hat will work just for you. Take a look at page 16 of Hastings Deering’s Dealer News to find out how Hastings Deering has rolled out our field services technology to establish to establish a network of over 500 Service Mobile Offices which will improve communications between customers and their field service staff. Their vehicles are all being upgraded with our ‘hot spot’ technology so technicians can stay connected via their vehicles, making it easier to manage jobs and remain in contact when they’re in the field or onsite.

After ten years working with our dealer, Ultimate Positioning Benchmark, in Adelaide, we’ve brought the team across to be part of UPG. The team has moved into a new and bigger office in Keswick alongside sister companies SITECH Construction Systems and DataHawk.

Rob Ferguson, who’s come across from Ultimate Positioning Benchmark, says: “This is a really exciting move which means we’re now part of a 140 strong company, in operation since 1888 in Queensland, and which has offices across Eastern and Central Australia. The whole Ultimate Positioning Benchmark team has moved across and, after working with them for ten years, we’re really looking forward to being part of the UPG team.”

Thank you to everyone who made it along to our new office opening in September last year. It was great to see you all again and talk to you about what’s going on in your business and how we might be able to help. Please don’t hesitate to come and visit us again.

Earlier in the year, we were very proud to announce that we’ve got the newest flight school on the block. The one week school, which is the fastest on the market, enables Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) owners to gain their Remotely Piloted Aerial System (RPAS) certification and it’s all certified by CASA the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. Take a look at the media release here and at this page here for more information and to sign up.

We love talking to our customers about how they’re using our solutions, and recently we caught up with Patrick Weeden from Scout Aerial to have a chat about how his company uses their UAVs day-to-day.

Here’s what Patrick had to say:

“Scout Aerial is in the business of using aerial imagery for both media and surveying. We have a substantial fleet of UAVs, but for aerial surveying we use the SenseFly eBee supplied by UPG. We service multiple industries to provide 3D mapping, precision topographical and agricultural surveys, stockpile and volume calculations, digital elevation models and much more.

“I’ve found the eBee to be fantastic in terms of value for money, performance and ease of deployment. The software is user friendly, straight forward and allows us to plan missions very effectively and efficiently. The eBee is an ideal option for operations that require quick deployment and very accurate results.

“Traditionally, aerial imagery requires a helicopter or plane flyover at a price beyond most budgets. Our UAV services come at a fraction of the cost, which means that it is not only viable for large corporations, but smaller businesses can reap the benefits too.

“We continue to get enquiries from new and existing customers to do quicker and larger jobs so we’re planning to increase our UAV fleet. We’ll be looking to UPG for all our additional UAV requirements including additional eBees and the new Trimble UX5. UPG has been an absolute delight to deal with and their after-sales support is second to none.

“We’re also looking forward to putting our new team members through UPG’s recently announced flight school. I’ve been running my own in-house flight school for some time but this will make the process much quicker and easier. We’re really looking forward to putting our new pilots through this course and working closely with UPG in the future.”

After a number of years working with our Townsville customers from other Queensland locations, we’ve opened up the doors of our new office in Townsville which we’re sharing with our sister companies SITECH Construction Systems and DataHawk. To mark the occasion, we hosted a technology open day at the end of August, alongside SITECH and DataHawk to show a number of Townsville’s construction, civil contracting, engineering and surveying community what our three businesses can offer.

Garry Essex, Director of all three companies, kicked off the day with a presentation about the long history of the companies since Ultimate Positioning opened its doors 125 years ago as a Brisbane watch maker and then moved into repairing and selling survey equipment. With the three companies, we now have over 140 employees spread across ten locations and are the authorised reseller of Trimble Technology for Eastern and Central Australia. The business has been owned and run by four generations of the Bright family and Adam Bright is in the business today.

Tom Williams, Survey Manager for Seymour Whyte, a long-time Ultimate Positioning and SITECH customer, then spoke about the journey his company has been on since adopting machine control technology in 2005. From modest beginnings and overcoming a number of sceptics, Seymour Whyte now uses SITECH’s technology on all projects and expects its contractors to be ‘Trimble Ready’ before working on their jobs.

“It didn’t take us long to see the benefits the technology made to our bottom line. The more machines that are working off it and the more the data is integrated through the right software packages, the more beneficial the results. That’s why we use it across everything now.” Williams says of the technology.

Seymour Whyte has used our solutions on projects such as the Toowoomba Range remediation, Townsville Port inner harbour expansion, Landsborough Highway rehabilitation and the Warrego Highway project from Jondaryan to Dalby.

It was the hands-on field experience that really drew the crowds to the open day though. With an M-series grader, excavator and roller on site, as well as a great deal of site positioning technology, the guests were able to see firsthand what the solutions are all about. We also showcased our imaging and monitoring offering and DataHawk, the business dedicated to rail development and maintenance, displayed their Trimble GEDO rail trolley.

Thanks to all those who made it along to the Townsville opening, we really enjoyed talking to you. If you’re in Townsville and you’d like to have a chat with us, please touch base with Wally Armstrong our Sales and Support Manager in Townsville or phone 07 4421 2900.